Archive for the ‘Privacy’ Category

By now, I’m sure just about everyone has heard about the three-year-old that was “hand-searched” by TSA agents after she got upset about having her teddy bear taken away. It turned out that the girl’s father was a TV reporter; he pulled out his cellphone and recorded the search. (The video has since been removed from YouTube due to copyright infringement.)

As you might expect, the opinions on this are all over the place, ranging from “this is sexual molestation of children!” to “if we don’t search children, the terrorists will put bombs in their diapers!” I think reality is somewhere in the middle — I suspect the parents could have done better job of preparing their child for the process but I also think the TSA is probably ill-prepared and poorly-trained to handle such situations.

If you’ve been living in a cave for the last few years, you might not be aware that Google, once known solely as an internet search engine, currently offers many other services, including street and satellite maps of a goodly portion of the world. In addition, for many cities, you can access their “Street View” — 360 degree images as seen by cameras mounted atop roving vehicles. For some, it’s a great way to explore the world but for others, it’s an invasion of privacy. Such is the opinion of Claire Rowlands of Walkden, Greater Manchester in England.